The History Book Club discussion

This is a thread devoted to the discussion of the SECOND WORLD WAR (people, locations, events, books and other publications, battles, historic sites, maps, research information, urls, etc.)

Please feel free to add any and all discussion information related to this topic area in this thread.

As everyone is aware, The History Book Club spotlighted Volume I of The Second World War by Winston Churchill. We will also add that discussion to this folder.

Note: Please no self promotion, personal blogs, urls or links or references to personal books. Please check rules and guidelines before posting. If you have any questions, reach out to a moderator and they can help you with the rules and guidelines.

Bentley

Winston S. Churchill

I think that I would like to suggest we consider for the second half of this year Inferno- The World at War - by Max Hastings



Max Hastings
Max Hastings

I have had only good recomendations for his work and it has been some years since I read a general history of WW II and I would assume it has more up to date findings.

That being said the not brand new history of the Civil War we are now reading

James M. McPherson

James M. McPherson

is pretty darn good

Vince wrote: "I think that I would like to suggest we consider for the second half of this year Inferno- The World at War - by Max Hastings "

I just finished the book and it was okay but not amazing by any stretch.

We do have votes on all group selections aside from buddy reads. But I like the author you suggested Vince and we can place it on the list to be voted for.

Bentley wrote: "We do have votes on all group selections aside from buddy reads. But I like the author you suggested Vince and we can place it on the list to be voted for."

Thanks Craig and Bentley

I have too many books with Goodreads to have other scheduled reading progress for more - I might try it on my own but not likely when I am engaged with two or three HBC group reads.

I have always been fascinated as to how the Jews survived the Holocaust. Leon Uris is one of my favorite authors about this era. I also would like to find Historical fiction about anti-Hitler Germans (ie underground) .One that I have been introduced to is a Man of the name ? Baunhofer? any one have any suggestions

sarg wrote: "I have always been fascinated as to how the Jews survived the Holocaust. Leon Uris is one of my favorite authors about this era. I also would like to find Historical fiction about anti-Hitler Germa..."

I refer you to the Holocaust topic within this thread for further information on that subject. The link is shown below.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/8...

Additionally, there is a historical fiction thread that might be of interest to you. It can be found here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

When you mention an author, please cite the required citations of author link and photo (if available).

Leon Uris

Thanks will do

Pearl Harbor.......72 years ago today. A day that will live in infamy.

Yes, indeed, Jill, thanks for posting.

The only thing we had here in Boston was on AMC the movie Tora!Tora!Tora! I wish there was more recognition of the sacrifices made by so many during that time period. My Dad was Army during WWII and my grandfather Navy and I can only speak for myself but I will never forget what everyone went through during that dark period of human history.

We had a front-page article in our local paper. One of the nursing homes prepared a oral WWII history and self-published it. It was a nice article.

It is very sad that we don't see much mention of Pearl Harbor anymore. There are still men living that were there......very few. If you have ever been to the USS Arizona Memorial and seen that ship lying on the bottom which is the burial site for so many, you will never forget it, no matter what age you are.

Bryan wrote: "We had a front-page article in our local paper. One of the nursing homes prepared a oral WWII history and self-published it. It was a nice article."

Oh what a wonderful tribute Bryan! A wish of mine is to someday go to Washington, DC to visit the WWII Memorial. I know my dad and my grandfather's names are there.

I just noticed the top of this thread and what book was being promoted and that's one of the books I'm currently reading now. It's fascinating read for anyone interested in history!

The WWII Memorial is a awesome sight.

sarg wrote: "I have always been fascinated as to how the Jews survived the Holocaust. Leon Uris is one of my favorite authors about this era. I also would like to find Historical fiction about anti-Hitler Germa..."

Sarg, RE: Bonhoeffer. He has written several books. He was a theologian but was active in trying to remove Hitler as a result of the evil he was observing. While I have not read it yet there is a fairly new biography out.
Eric Metaxas

One of the best books by leon Uris I ever read was . I was definitely recommend this one to all.

Good to know, Michael, thank you.

Thanks Doreen, please add the author:

by Leon Uris

Thanks Michael I know of Bonhoeffer but haven't read any of his books.

To my knowledge the film of the same name was not based on this book but of course the facts are the facts. The author goes a little deeper into the build-up, attack, and fall out of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Tora, Tora, Tora - Pearl Harbor, 1941

by Mark Stille (no photo)

Synopsis

The Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor is one of the most famous raids in history, if not the most famous. In the early hours of December 7, 1941, the carriers and aircraft of the Japanese First Air Fleet launched a sudden and unexpected attack on the US naval forces anchored in Pearl Harbor, hoping to cripple America's naval capabilities in one decisive blow.

This new study by Mark Stille will address the build-up to, execution of, and fallout from the Pearl Harbor operation. Putting the raid in context, the political and military background will be addressed - Japanese expansion in the Far East, and American responses to it, and the steady increase in tensions between the two powers. The Japanese decision to launch an assault on Pearl Harbor will be considered in detail, from the time constraints faced in planning the raid, alternative operational possibilities, and the bold, stubborn leadership of Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, who was the driving force behind the concept and planning, to the final adoption of the operation, and its place in Japan's national strategy. It is an illuminating new look at one of the most infamous events in modern history.

That looks like an interesting read for the Japan challenge for those interested also in World War II. You might want to add it to the Japan challenge.

For the true WWII buff.

The World War II Tommy: British Army Uniforms of the European Theatre

by Brayley/Ingram (no photo)

Synopsis:

Photos of original uniforms worn by live models present a dynamic recreation of the army at the outbreak of WWII, through to the liberation of North West Europe in 1944-45. Brayley and Ingram have assembled a wide range of rare surviving items - some never before published - including infantry, tank crews, airborne troops, gunners, engineers and medical personnel, set in extraordinarily realistic settings. Superb!

A list of the Allies of World War II. Some are a little surprising.

In World War II the chief Allied Powers were Great Britain, France (except during the German occupation, 1940–44), the Soviet Union (after its entry in June 1941), the United States (after its entry on Dec. 8–11, 1941), and China. More generally the Allies included all the wartime members of the United Nations, the signatories to the Declaration of the United Nations. The original signers, of Jan. 1, 1942, were Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dominican Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Poland, Salvador, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Yugoslavia; subsequent wartime signers were the Philippines, Mexico, Ethiopia, Iraq, Free French, and Free Danes.
(Source: Encylopedia Britannica)

Good adds

General Eisenhower's speech to the troops before they embarked for the shores of Normandy on June 6, 1944.


"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!

I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory! Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Order of the Day
June 6, 1944"

(Source: Normandy-France.net)

Thank you very much Jason for the add and post.

This is the next book on my tbr list and I am looking forward to starting it in a couple of weeks.

Battles Lost and Won: Great Campaigns of World War II

by Hanson W. Baldwin

Synopsis:

Analysis of eleven crucial battles of the Second World War, what happened at each and why. The battle covered are: the Polish Campaign; the Battle of Britain; Crete; Corregidor; Stalingrad; Sicily; Tarawa; Normandy; Leyte Gulf; Battle of the Bulge; and Okinawa

You guys will love this:

http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/book...

"Published for the first time in a faithful English translation, Unknown Soldiers is the story of a platoon of ordinary Finnish soldiers fighting their Soviet Union counterparts during the Second World War. Drawing on Linna's own wartime experiences, this gritty and realistic account shatters the myth of the noble, obedient Finnish soldier."

Jukka.....oh yes, we will like that book!!! Thanks so much for the recommendation. Your book citation was almost there since it takes a few tries before it becomes second nature. It should look like this.

by Väinö Linna

This is a list of Native Pro-Axis Leaders and Governments or Direct Control in Occupied Territories, including:

* territories with some indigenous pro-Axis leaders
*collaborating local administrations
*direct administration by occupying pro-Axis forces

Albania (until 1945)
Bohemia and Moravia (until 1945)
Carpatho-Ruthenia (until 1944)
Belgium (until 1944)
Banat (until 1944)
Backa (until 1944)
Bosnia (until 1944-45)
Herzegovina (until 1944-45)
Dalmatia (until 1945)
Slovenia (Carniola) (until 1945)
Littoral (Küstenland) (until 1945)
Sanjak of Novi Pazar (until 1944)
Transylvania (Siebenburgen) (until 1944)
Kosovo (until 1944)
Macedonia (until 1944)
Montenegro (until 1944)
Serbia (until 1944)
Croatia (until 1945)
Slavonia (until 1944)
Galicia (until 1944)
Dobruja (until 1944)
Bukovina (until 1944)
Bessarabia (until 1944)
Transnistria (until 1944)
Moldavia (until 1944)
Netherlands (until 1944)
Luxembourg (until 1944)
France (German held area of France) (until 1944)
Channel Islands (German held area of British Isles) (until 1945)
Greece (until 1944)
Denmark (until 1945)
Dodecanese (until 1943)
Norway (until 1945)
Estonia (until 1944)
Latvia (until 1944)
Lithuania (until 1944)
Ukraine (until 1944)
Belarus (until 1944)
Russia (Occupied areas) (until 1944)
Caucasia (north areas) (until 1943)
General Government (German administration over occupied Polish areas)
Syria (until 1941)
Lebanon (until 1941)
Morocco (until 1943)
Algeria (until 1943)
Tunisia (until 1943)
Libya (until 1943)
Ethiopia (until 1941)
Somalia (until 1941)
Djibouti (until 1942)
Madagascar (until 1942)
Hong Kong (Kowloon) (Japanese held British Land) (until 1945)
Macau (Japanese Held Portuguese Land) (until 1945)
Philippines (until 1945)
Burma (until 1945)
Malaya (Malacca) (until 1945)
Singapore (Syonan) (until 1945)
Brunei (until 1945)
Dutch East Indies (Indonesia)(until 1945)
Christmas Island (Japanese Held British Land) (until 1945)
East Timor (Japanese Held Portuguese Land) (until 1945)
New Guinea (Japanese Held Australian Land) (until 1945)
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Japanese Held British Land) (until 1945)
Attu (Japanese Held American Land) (until 1942)
Kiska (Japanese Held American Land) (until 1942)
Solomon Islands (until 1943)
Gilbert Islands (until 1944)
Guam (until 1944)
Wake Island (until 1945)
Nauru (until 1945)

(Source: Wikipedia)

Hello everyone,

I am new to Good Reads and this History Book Club. I hope you can help me.

I am looking for a one volume readable account of the Second World War including all theatres. I have some knowledge of the UK and Europe but little on other areas. I'd be grateful for any recommendations.

Anne.....There were so many theaters in WWII that it is often tough to find a one volume book that covers them all but I think the the book cited below which won the Pulitzer Prize might be what you are looking for. Max Hastings is one of my favorite historians and his writings are concise and readable. Be warned, it is 700+ pages so it is not a week-end read......but that's the way I like them!!!

by Max Hastings

Here's some other one-volume histories, Anne:

by Gerhard L. Weinberg
by Antony Beevor
by Andrew Roberts

Thank you Jill for these recommendations. I will get the Max Hastings.

I was very confused for a time until I found out that the book was published as Inferno in the USA and as All Hell Let Loose in the UK.

Anne, don't forget citations so that the goodreads software can cross populate our site.

Use citations:

Max Hastings

by Max Hastings

You are right - a book can have a completely different name when it is published in a different country - very confusing.

American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II

by Jonathan W. Jordan (no photo)

Synopsis:

American Warlords is the story of the greatest “team of rivals” since the days of Lincoln.

In a lifetime shaped by politics, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proved himself a master manipulator of Congress, the press, and the public. But when war in Europe and Asia threatened America’s shores, FDR found himself in a world turned upside down, where his friends became his foes, his enemies his allies. To help wage democracy’s first “total war,” he turned to one of history’s most remarkable triumvirates.

Henry Stimson, an old-money Republican from Long Island, rallied to FDR’s banner to lead the Army as Secretary of War, and championed innovative weapons that shape our world today. General George C. Marshall argued with Roosevelt over grand strategy, but he built the world’s greatest war machine and willingly sacrificed his dream of leading the invasion of Europe that made his protégé, Dwight Eisenhower, a legend. Admiral Ernest J. King, a hard-drinking, irascible fighter who “destroyed” Pearl Harbor in a prewar naval exercise, understood how to fight Japan, but he also battled the Army, the Air Force, Douglas MacArthur, and his British allies as they moved armies and fleets across the globe.

These commanders threw off sparks whenever they clashed: Generals against politicians, Army versus Navy. But those sparks lit the fire of victory. During four years of bitter warfare, FDR’s lieutenants learned to set aside deep personal, political, and professional differences and pull a nation through the twentieth century's darkest days.

Encircling Roosevelt’s warlords—and sometimes bitterly at odds with them—was a colorful cast of the Second World War’s giants: Winston Churchill, MacArthur, Josef Stalin, Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Charles de Gaulle. These and other larger-than-life figures enrich a sweeping story of an era brimming with steel, fire, and blood.

Drawing upon a wealth of primary sources, American Warlords goes behind closed doors to give readers an intimate, often surprising view of titans who led America from isolation to the summit of global power. Written in a robust, engaging style, author Jonathan W. Jordan offers a vivid portrait of four extraordinary Americans in the eye of war’s hurricane.

He was one of the major players in WWII as well as being one of the most controversial.......he was either revered or reviled. This excellent biography may help you decide his place in history.

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur

by William Manchester

Synopsis

MacArthur, the public figure, the private man, the soldier-hero whose mystery and appeal created a uniquely American legend, portrayed in a biography that will challenge the cherished myths of admirers and critics alike.

The "day of infamy" dissected.

At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor

by Gordon W. Prange

Synopsis

Decades after the attack that plunged America into WWII, At Dawn We Slept remains the greatest account of Pearl Harbor ever written. This gripping study scrupulously reconstructs the Japanese attack, from its conception (less than a year before the actual raid) to its lightning execution; & it reveals the true reason for the American debacle: the insurmountable disbelief in the Japanese threat that kept America from heeding advance warnings & caused leaders to ignore evidence submitted by our own intelligence sources. Based on 37 years of intense research & countless interviews, & incorporating previously untranslated documents, At Dawn We Slept is history with the dramatic sweep of a martial epic.

I want to say thank you to those who recommended Max Hastings All Hell Let Loose as a good one volume overview of WWII. I am thoroughly enjoying it.

Anne wrote: "I want to say thank you to those who recommended Max Hastings All Hell Let Loose as a good one volume overview of WWII. I am thoroughly enjoying it."

I'm glad you are enjoying the Hastings book, Anne. It is a Pulitzer Prize winner and well deserves the recognition.

BTW, don't forget your book citations:

by Max Hastings

Apologies. Please explain the Goodreads book citations.

Anne.......go to our link below for complete instructions. If you have an questions after reading it, let me know.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

December 7, 1941.

Day of Infamy

by Walter Lord

Synopsis:

The Day of Infamy began as a quiet morning on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. But as Japan’s deadly torpedoes suddenly rained down on the Pacific fleet, soldiers, generals, and civilians alike felt shock, then fear, then rage. From the chaos, a thousand personal stories of courage emerged. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, letters, and diaries, Walter Lord recounts the many tales of heroism and tragedy by those who experienced the attack firsthand. From the musicians of the USS Nevada who insisted on finishing “The Star Spangled Banner” before taking cover, to the men trapped in the capsized USS Oklahoma who methodically voted on the best means of escape, each story conveys the terror and confusion of the raid, as well as the fortitude of those who survived.

In my humble opinion, this is the finest book written on the Third Reich. It is 1600 pages so be prepared for it to take a while but it is worth it. Shirer was an eye-witness to the rise of Hitler's Germany and he writes with clarity and scholarship. If you never read anything else about the Third Reich, read this one.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

by William L. Shirer

Synopsis:

Hitler boasted that The Third Reich would last a thousand years. It lasted only 12. But those 12 years contained some of the most catastrophic events Western civilization has ever known. In The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer gave us the definitive book on Hitler's German Empire. Based on his personal experiences as a war correspondent as well as the voluminous documents that came out of Germany after the war, this thrilling account of Hitler's reign is widely acclaimed to be one of the greatest historical works of our time. Now available as an exclusive anniversary edition, this volume is as compelling as ever. Everything about the period is explained to the fullest, beginning with Hitler's rise to power, the Nazification of Germany and the march to war. The accounts of how the United States got involved and how Hitler used Mussolini and Japan are astonishing, and the coverage of the war-from Germany's early successes to her eventual defeat-is must reading

Expected publication date October 10th 2017


Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II

by Liza Mundy (no photo)

Synopsis:

In the tradition of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, Code Girls is the astonishing, untold story of the young American women who cracked key Axis codes, helping to secure Allied victory and revolutionizing the field of cryptanalysis.

Recruited by the U.S. Army and Navy from small towns and elite colleges, more than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during World War II. While their brothers and boyfriends took up arms, these women moved to Washington and learned the meticulous work of code-breaking. Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them. A strict vow of secrecy nearly erased their efforts from history; now, through dazzling research and interviews with surviving code girls, bestselling author Liza Mundy brings to life this riveting and vital story of American courage, service, and scientific accomplishment.

I'm currently reading "D-DAY: June 6,1944" by Stephen E. Ambrose

I finished reading Winston Churchill's The Gathering Storm (The Second World War Vol. 1 of 6). Will begin the next volume in a month or two. Churchill can really write and the detail are vivid.

Thanks Lina for your cooperation in getting the standards right.